Tuesday, November 25, 2014

I’ve been slacking on the pie posts. We have continued to make pie, but I’ve been lacking the enthusiasm in this whole pie project. Maybe it’s because the holidays are coming up. The next 4 weeks have a lot for us: thanksgiving, Charlie's bday, my bday and Christmas. So I’m a little distracted.

But on week 18 Adam found himself in the chapter that held both Pumpkin and Pecan pie. So he decided to make both. Yep, he made two pies in one week. The pecan pie was so good our daycare provider asked if he’d make her one for her thanksgiving dinner. The pumpkin pie was also good, but I’m not a huge pumpkin pie fan so I’m not a good judge. Adam said it was good. Tomorrow he’ll be making more pecan pies. Last week I was on refrigerator pies and since Publix had a sale on fresh raspberries I chose Raspberry Chiffon pie.

I asked Adam to make my crust since he’s really good at it and I didn’t feel like making one (and my lack of enthusiasm). The pie itself was pretty simple. Just a lot of cooling and chilling and things like that. I really enjoyed licking the spoon too…it was yummy!

When it was finally ready to eat I was pleasantly surprised how much it tasted like my grandmas go to Christmas dessert: Raspberry Fluff (insert grandma “do you know how expensive raspberries are getting? I don’t think I can make it next year” but she did)

The pie probably could have been a little more set. I may have not cooked the Jell-O as much as I should or got it hot enough, but it was still edible without making a huge mess and we all enjoy it!

This week I reminded Adam it was his turn to make a pie and he’s on Ice Cream… I have a feeling we might be skipping this week since he’s already making pecan pies! Besides I’m pretty sure an ice cream pie would be perfect for Charlie’s Birthday week!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

S’moreIt looked pretty easy to make so I tackled it one morning before I left on a business trip.

I bought the crust (I know I’m such a cheater) And I planned to use the Hershey's bars Charlie got from trick or treating so there wasn’t much I needed to get.

Well of course when you think something will be quick and easy, It never is. First off one of my yokes broke. So I was trying to get yoke out of my whites. Second I realized as I was mixing in the vanilla pudding we had at the house the word “regular” was italicized and it made me think, what do they mean. Well one quick glance at my instant pudding mix box I realized that in 1978 they probably had a choice…cooktop pudding or instant. So 15 minutes later I’m still stirring and waiting for my mixture the thicken. In the end I figured I could deal with it when I got back from my trip and thicken it up with some tapioca.

Flash forward 2 days I get home and the pudding is pretty think and chilled in my fridge. So I decide I’ll just use it and I assemble my pie and start to beat the egg whites.

And I’m beating and beating and beating. While I’m beating I see the Tips section for making meringue. 1. Use room temperature eggs (pulled mine right out of the fridge) 2. Any small amount of yoke could ruin the meringue (we all know how that went)

Finally after a good 20 min my whites formed stiff peaks and I was able to get the pie in the oven. Then I cooled it before I put it in the fridge to chill.

Charlie went to bed and we cut into it looking forward to some gooey goodness. It wasn’t really gooey, you call it runny.

Overall the flavor was there. But the chocolate and the marshmallows hadn’t melted at all. And because there were only chocolate pieces some bites didn’t even have any. The pudding mix basically took over. In the end I couldn’t finish mine and Adam though it was ok, just not the S’mores taste he wanted.

So will we make it again? Maybe, but with a lot of tweaking!!

Next week Adam is going to skip ahead so that Pumpkin Pie falls on Thanksgiving week.